Operating-table



G. c.. TAPLIN. OPERATING TABLE. APPL'ICATION FILED MAR. 7| 192i.

meneame. 6, 1921.

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G. C. TAPLIN.

OPERATING TABLE. l APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7| 192!- v v Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

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if y/ ma rar n its OPERATING-TABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

Application led March '7, 1921. Serial No. 450,340. Y

To all w hom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, GEORGE C. TAPLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful improvements in Operating-Tables, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to operating tables used by Osteopaths, and other'practitioners, who exert pressure in various directions on the recumbent body of a patient, the body usually lying on a cushioned horizontal operating table.

One object of the invention is to provide an effective, and at the same time yielding support for the body against pressures exerted by the operator in directions tending to push the body sidewise, or horizontally, my invention being intended to prevent sidewise displacement of the body by such pressures, without causing discomfort to the patient in accomplishing this result.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for exerting pressure in various directions and in various locations on the patient-s body, and to enable the operator to utilize foot power as well as manual power in exerting such pressure.

The invention is embodied in the improvements hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,-

Figure 1 is a plan view of an operating table embodying the invention.

Fig.` 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, portions of the pressure-applying means shown by Fig. 1, being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and an elevation of parts at the left of said line.

Fig. 4t is a fragmentaryv section similar to a portion of Fig. 2, showing a modification.

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. t.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to a portion of Fig. 2, showing a construction permitting interruption of the continuity of the mattress support.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a different form of pressure applicator, and foot-pressure applying means.

Fig. 9 shows the applicator of Fig. 8, and a portion of its carrier, partly in side elevation and partly in section.

Fig. 10 is a section on line 10-10 of Fig. 9.

Figs. 11 and 12 are fragmentary views, showing certain details otherwise shown by Fig. 8.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the figures.

The horizontal body of my improved operating table is supported at a suitable height by legs 12, and may be of any suitable construction, whereby there is provided a permanent frame-shaped top section surrounding an opening in the table top, said opening being indicated as a whole by the reference numeral 13, in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a rigid bottom 1/1 below the opening, and a rigid curb surrounding the space between the bottom and the margin of the opening, said curb being preferably rectangular, and including members 15perpendicular to the bottom, and forming the upright members or walls of an open box, the bottom member of which is the bottom le. The top section o'f table entirely surrounds the opening 13, and is preferably composed of compressible cushioning material 16, resting on rigid body members 17, and flexible wear-sustainingsheet material 18, coveringy the cushioning material. Portions of the permanent top section table body project above, and form extensions of the curb members 15.

19 designates a pneumatic mattress lling the box formed by the bottom 14C and curb 15. The top wall of the mattress is normally substantially flush with the surrounding top surface of the table body.

A suitable inflating valve 20 (Fig. 8) is provided whereby a regulated charge of air may be introduced and confined. The bottom wall of the mattress bears loosely and separably on the rigid bottom 14, and the marginal wall ofthe mattress bears loosely and separably on the curb 15. The volume of confined air should be such that the top wall of the mattress may be locally depressed by the recumbent body 2l of a patient lying breast downward on the table, as shown by Fig. 3. The mobility of the fluid cushion and the loose separable bearing of the marginal wall of the mattress on the curb permitany portion of the top wall to be depressed by the body 21, into the curb below the plane of the'table top, and other portions to be raised by displaced air and bulge above the curb. The bulging portions form a yielding retaining wall 19a yielding backed by the mobile cushion, and

unyieldingly backed by the curb, said retaining wall being adapted to yieldingly oppose horizontal movements of the body 21. The separability of the marginal wall from the curb also permits uniformly free downward, upward, and edgewise movements of all portions of the top wall, `so that a shoulder of the` patient in close proximity to the curb may be pressed below the upper edge of the curb without objectionable resistance by the marginal portion of the top wall.

The top of the mattress constitutes a flexible yieldingly supported top section surrounded by the permanent frame-shaped top section.

It will now be seen that provision is made for comfortably and securely supporting the patients body against pressure exerted thereon in various directions, including pressure exerted in directions tending to displace the body horizontally. Said presA sure is in many cases exerted directly by the hands of the operator, or by an applicator pressed against the bodyY only by the hand or hands of the operator.

In other cases it is desirable to provide means whereby the operator may supplement the action of his hands by one of his feet, in applying pressure to the body. To this end l combine with a table having a yieldingly supported flexible top section, a holder, manually and universally movable by the operator above said section, and provided with spaced apart bearings 25, each of which is shown by Figs. l1 and 3, as composed of a single roller. The holder may be formed as shown by F ig. 1, by bending an elongated metal strip to form parallel side arms 24 and a neck 24?, connecting said arms, and by attaching to the ends of the arms opposite said neck a member constituting the outer handle` 30, hereinafter described. A wooden block or filling piece Selb may be interposed between the side arms 24, as shown by Figs. 9 andlO.

An applicator, designated by the numeral 26 in Figs. 1 and 3, is attached to the holder between said bearings. I provide means for applying foot pressure to said holder and applicator, embodied in an anchoring member attached to the table, the preferred form of said anchoring member being shown at 27, in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 8, and a flexible foot-pressureapplying member such asa strap 28, secured at one end to the anchoring member and passing between portions of the side arms of the holder. The strap contacts movably with the bearings 25, and its opposite end is free, and provided with means, such as a stirrup 29 for receiving foot pressure.

The holder 24 preferably has at one end an outer handle 30, and between the bearings 25 an upstanding inner handle 31,

which is preferably perpendicular to, and located centrally of the applicator.

The bearings 25 are preferably antifric tion rolls journaled between the side arms of the holder and permitting the holder to be freely moved endwise, and variously inclined, while foot pressure is exerted on it by the strap.

The anchoring member is preferably an elongated guide, the connection of the strap to said member being effected by a slide movable on said guide, so that the holder, applicator, and strap may be adjusted lengthwise of the table.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the anchoring member, designated by 27, is a cylindrical rod fixed to downwardly projecting ears 30, and located under the bottom 14, the strap being provided with an eye 29', adapted to slide on said rod. Figs. 4L and 5 show a modification, in which the elongated anchoring member lor guide is formed by a strip 27a attached to one of the curb members 15, at the/side farthest from the stirrup, the strap being provided with a hook 29, adapted to slide on said strip.v

As shown by Figs. 6 and 7, the mattresssupporting bottom may be so constructed that its continuity may be interrupted to forni an opening at 31, permitting a portion of the pneumatic mattress to sag or bend downward, as indicated by Fig 6, when unusually heavy pressure is applied to the body above said portion. To this end I preferably construct the bottom in sections 11i, and provide the table with guides 32, on which said sections are slidable, the arrangement being such that some of the sections may be moved edgewise to form the opening` 31.

The applicator may be of any desired form and construction. As shown by Fig. 3, the applicator is composed of a rigid back 34;, attached by screws 33 to the holder 24 and a compressible pad, and a flexible wearsustaining cover, associated with said back.

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 show an applicator composed of a yolre 36, connected by a bolt 37 with the holder 2st, and cylindrical pads 38, mounted on bolts 39 secured to the bifurn cated ends of the yoke. Said pads may be elastic rubber cylinders, and are preferably fixed tothe holder so that they do not rotate. rlhe pads are separatedby a space, into which a spinous process may project when the tissues at opposite sides of the spinous process are pressed inwardly by the pads. Illhis may be called a two-point applicator.

instead of employing a strap28 as the foot-pressure applying member,y l may einploy a cord 41, arranged as shown by Figs. 8 to 12. One end of the cord 41 is attached to the stirrup 29, and the other end to a hook 4t2, adapted to slide on an anchoring member or guide 43, attached to one of the curb members 15, at the side nearest the stirrup.

The cord 41 passes over two pairs of pulleys 44, corresponding in position to the pulleys 25. A bight of the cord passes under a pulley 45, journaled in a block 46, which is connected by a strap or cord 48, with the eye 29 which slides on the anchoring member or guide 27. This arrangement veolualizes the f'oot pressure at both ends of the holder, and enables the operator to easily maintain the holder in a horizontal position.

I claim:

l. An operating table having an opening in its top, a rigid supporting bottom below the opening; a rigid confining curb between the bottom and the opening, and a pneumatic mattress having a bottom wall bearing separably on' the said bottom, a marginal `wall bearing separably on the curb, and a top wall yieldingly supported in the opening by the charge of air in the mattress, the separability of the said marginal wall from the curb permitting uniformly free downward, upward, and edgewise movements of all portions of said top wall.

2. An operating table having a permanent frame-shaped top section surrounding an opening, a rigid bottom below said opening,y

a rigid curb between the bottom and the opening, and a flexible mattress removably supported by the bottom and confined marginally by the curb, the top of the mattress constituting a flexible yieldingly supported table top section surrounded by the permanent top section.k

3. An operating table substantially as specified by claim 2, the said bottom having a movable section which is displaceable to interrupt the continuity of the bottom and permit the downward sagging or bending of a portion of the mattress. n

4. An operating table substantially as specified by claim 2, said bottom being composed of a plurality of slidable sections, and the table being provided with guides on which said sections are slidable to interrupt the continuity of the bottom and permit the downward sagging or bending of a portion of the mattress. Y

5.1An operating table having a flexible yieldingly supported top section, a holder universally movable above said section and provided withv spaced apart bearings and with means whereby it may be manually manipulated, a pressure applicator attached to the holder between said bearings, and means for exerting foot pressure on said holder and applicator, said means including an anchoring member fixed to the table, and a flexible pressure-applying member connected with the anchoring member and contacting movably with said bearings, one end of said Vmember being free and provided with means for receiving foot pressure.

6. An operating table substantially as specified by claim' 5, the said anchoring member being a longitudinally extending guide, andthe said pressure-applying member being slidably connected with said guide so that the holder, applicator, and pressureapplying member may be adjusted lengthwise of the table.

7. An operating table substantially as GEORGE o. TAPLIN. 

